Honeycomb

Vizio's 8-inch Android tablet has gone up for pre-order at Amazon, offering a 1024 x 768 capacitive touchscreen, Honeycomb OS and the ability to control HDTVs and other A/V equipment via an integrated IR emitter and universal remote app. The slate was announced back at CES 2011.
Pre-orders through Vizio itself began at the start of the month, with the tablet expected to begin shipping on July 18. There it's $399.99, versus the $349.99 that Amazon is asking, though when you buy direct you get it with a 16GB microSD card and a special folio case that also works as a stand.
If you can do without those accessories, though, you can save $50, and we imagine many would-be buyers will be looking for the cheapest option. Your money gets you front and rear facing cameras and WiFi b/g/n, though Amazon isn't saying when it expects the slate to ship.
[via NetbookNews]

ASUS has updated its expected launch window for the Eee Pad Slider, with the company now claiming the Honeycomb slate with a QWERTY surprise won't launch in the UK until sometime this autumn (aka fall). Previously, ASUS had promised an August release for the Slider, having already delayed the Android tablet at least once.
Unveiled alongside the Eee Pad Transformer back at CES 2011, the Eee Pad Slider has a 10.1-inch touchscreen and NVIDIA Tegra 2 chipset, but also includes a sliding/tilting QWERTY keyboard. Unlike the 'board offered for the Transformer, which can be detached or turn the tablet into a netbook of sorts, the Slider's hides behind the body of the slate itself.
Reports back in February suggested the Eee Pad Slider would go on sale in mid-April, though unspecified delays have pushed that back. There's no official word from ASUS as to its reasoning, but we've heard some talk that the hinge mechanism could have presented issues.
[device id=629]

SO you remember a few days ago when it was a huge deal that there was a $100 discount on the normally $599 Android 3.1 Honeycomb NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core 10.1-inch HD widescreen tablet known as the Motorola XOOM? Well, turns out that the group themselves has the tablet at that same price starting today. They've also go the Verizon 3G w/plan version at $599 and the Verizon 3G w/o plan version for $799. This is another clue as to how soon it'll be before we see the "4G" version of the tablet being released, that being the upgrade to the version you're seeing on the market right this second. The question stands now though: will the re-release of this tablet cost $599 again?

The last video teaser we saw of the Sony S1 and S2 tablets, the company was strapping them to a Rube Goldberg-style machine and hardly telling us anything at all. Happily a brief demo of the Android Honeycomb prototypes in Munich this week has been more elucidating; while Sony still isn't saying much about final specs or software, at least Golem got to briefly play with the slates.
The S1's 9.7-inch display, folded-magazine style tapered form factor and light, 600g weight met with approval, the wedge shape make for something easy to hold. Sony apparently had Crash Bandicoot running on the tablet, with the on-screen PlayStation controls straightforward to use. The company is still generally quiet, but has apparently confirmed PlayStation Suite compatibility.
As for the S2, that's a lot more compact than we initially expected - the clamshell form-factor hiding its dual 5.5-inch touchscreens well - and does a decent job of minimizing the gap between the two panels. Sony hasn't confirmed pricing or availability, but previous leaks have suggested a September launch in Europe which could well mean an IFA 2011 official reveal.
[youtube nGyynWokrpA]
[via SlashGear]

Paper, snow, A GHOST! These are the things you'll be thinking about when you realize that, if you've got the same situation going on as us and our good pal Cameron over at Android Police, your Honeycomb device(s) no longer has Words With Friends installed. Shoot! What happened? Did a phantom come and swipe it up? Nay! It appears instead that Zynga's had some sort of support error happen and, believe it or not, they've got no idea! Normally what we'd do in this sort of situation is call the authorities and inform them that their game is broken directly, but the whole Android world needs to know that they're not going nutso!

Well would you look at that, a couple o' Android tablets for you to be glancing at. These tablets were foretold back on the 1st of this month and foreseen for months. What we've got here is two tablets, one of them an 8-inch tablet by the name of 80 G9, the other a 10-inch tablet by the name of 101 G0. Both of these tablets have Android 3.1, both of them have the Android Market inside out of the box, and both have the option to work with a 250GB hard drive.

Details of the Google TV "Fishtank" program, giving developers early access to version 2.0 of the smart TV software, have emerged. According to Geek's sources, less than 50 developers were invited to take an early glimpse at the platform, ahead of the Google TV 2.0 SDK being ready for primetime.
Google apparently sends participants an Intel CE4100 reference platform - the same chipset as found inside the Logitech Revue and other first-gen Google TV hardware - running a copy of Android 3.1 heavily modified for Fishtank use. The OS is stripped down and has a new UI, partially familiar from Google TV as we've already seen it, with a clock app and a Live TV app that shows content from the HDMI input.
Unfortunately, that Live TV functionality is already the source of arguments between Google and developers. According to the Fishtank program source, many of the developers involved gained invites based on their ideas for Live TV related apps, dressing up real-time content with information pulled from online. However, Google has decided that when Live TV doesn't hold the focus, developers won't be able to access it:

"We’re told many of the developers earned there way into the program with ideas that directly involved this feature–specifically, the ability to overlay data on top of Live TV or to place Live TV in a smaller window while information is displayed. So far, Google has stated that while they would consider the feature, there are no plans at this point to make it available at the API level, which has upset a number of the developers, forcing some to scrap their original project entirely." Geek

Still, there's plenty of time for Google to change all that. The updated version of Google TV - running on Ice Cream Sandwich, we're led to believe - is expected to be released later in 2011.
[gallery]

Huawei has taken the wraps off of its MediaPad tablet, the first 7-inch slate to run Android 3.2 Honeycomb. According to Huawei, Android 3.2 basically fettles Honeycomb to suit the 7-inch slate, which also comes with HSPA+ 14.4Mbps connectivity, WiFi b/g/n, an IPS capacitive touchscreen display and HDMI Full HD 1080p output.
Inside there's Qualcomm's 1.2GHz dual-core processor - presumably the same chip as inside the HTC Sensation - along with an unspecified amount of RAM, 8GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot. There's also Bluetooth, GPS and twin cameras: 5-megapixels on the back, with autofocus and HD video recording, and 1.3-megapixels upfront, for video calls.
At 11.98mm thick and 390g it's reasonably compact, and Huawei reckons the battery is good for up to 6hrs runtime. Facebook, Twitter, Let's Golf and Documents To Go will be preloaded, and Flash Player 10.3 supported.
No word on pricing at this stage, and Huawei apparently has no plans for a WiFi-only model. US availability is tipped for Q3 2011.
[via Engadget]

Your eyes do not deceive you: that is indeed Sony's pair of tablets - the S1 and S2 - being seen in video form for the first time. In front of them is a tiny train, for Sony has followed in the Rube Goldberg footsteps of Honda and others, and created an oddly slow-paced teaser full of shadows and clunking.
Neither of the tablets get much in the way of a demo. There's the regular Android Honeycomb homescreen, as you can see above, and some endearing shots of both models telling us "I love you."
"To Be Continued" the video suggests, and so hopefully future episodes will make everything a little clearer. Otherwise it's business as usual: Tegra 2 confirmed, dual-displays on the S2 and what looks to be a roughly September launch.
[youtube HmZD6bM0jcI]
[Thanks Carl!]

Earlier today an ad by Verizon Wireless was being shown and it looks like we were given a possible early look at an upcoming Android Honeycomb tablet. The video shows it quite well and you can clearly tell it is not a Xoom, or a Galaxy Tab 10.1 pictured in the video but clearly something else. Is it just me or does that look like a HTC Tablet?